why do nurses hate medics?

Specialties Emergency

Published

Not to offend anyone, but I have been in this game for over 12 yrs. I have worked with sone very good nurses but I have found that the majority of ER nurses are quite hateful to paramedics. It seems to be the younger nurses too. With the most current survey showing paramedics making an average of 14.xx per hr and nurses making 30.xx and hr... you would think it would be the medics with the problem. I am not talking about low educated medics either. In this area medics have ACLS, PALS, NALS, PHTLS, ABLS, proficient in 12 and 15 lead interpretation, etc.. We have medics that work in the ER not as techs but actually are assigned rooms as RNs. Can do everything as an RN except hang blood although you are trained in it. Medics have to choose the med they give in the field based on assessment not by dr. Order on the computer. Some opinions from nurses? I am not wanting a war here just enlightenment.

PMFB-RN, Are you a MILSPECMONKEY fan? Love the **** Magnet patch!

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This is a great conversation. I will say that it has been going on for quite a long time. I experienced a lot of this as a Navy Hospital Corpsman working with the Navy Nurse Corps and later as a paramedic. BUT THIS WAS NOT THE NORM.. Yes, some nurses were ****** that they couldn't do what we did, especially as PM's, but at the time (1980s), ALS protocols, etc. were becoming the norm and that independence rubbed some the wrong way. It was, at that time, recognizing the difference between independent, PREHOSPITAL care and IN-HOSPITAL care. We did EJ's, intubation, Central Lines, needle thoracentesis (McSwain Darts- showing my age), etc. I tubed a 6yo female in status epilieticus and pushed Valium. At the hospital, a so-called nurse anesthetist came to the ER. I told her the tube was positional but I had good breath sounds bilat. She pulled the tube! Just as the patient started seizing and vomiting again. I had to walk out. I was enraged. But again, this was the exception rather than the rule. There will always be some, on both sides, that have issues against the other. It is like racism, individual, not institutional.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
Akulahawk- Shout out from MackTheKnife on EMTLIFE!

Right back at ya...

In regards to your post just above this one, back then the concept of prehospital ALS was very new, and the organized field of EMS was only about 20 years old. In that regard, EMS is still quite young in its development and there is going to always be some friction between some in EMS and some in Nursing because there will be some skill overlap and purpose overlap and a difference in education models between the two fields, and possibly including "chain of command" issues. I'm sure you experienced all that same stuff as an HC in the Navy.

Most will not have issues (either side) because it's all about the patient, not our own egos.

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We all say it is all about the pt's which is how it should be. But how many or you have seen an order for a med sit there and not be prepared or given. I have seen it when i worked er. Some would click prepare and stay sitting there talking...With ems it is the same with chute and response times. There is a minimum standard that has to be met. If you work in the er and have not seen a pt lay in their bed waiting for assessment or treatment while the nurse looks at a mag or on the net then you have a good nurse and service. That is where I want to be treated.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
We did EJ's, intubation, Central Lines, needle thoracentesis

All standard skills for NURSES in my IN HOSPITAL unit, and for lots of other nurse friends of mine who work in transport.

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working as a medic, I had very few bad experiences with the nurses. However, when I applied to a MSN program, I was told by the dean that interviewed me that there would be professors that that would not like me simply because I was a medic. 5 or 6 professors made my life hell, doing everything they could to fail me in their classes. Mind you, I never told anyone that I was a medic, I told everyone I had no experience. Clinical professors as well as didactic did not feel a medic had the qualifications to become a nurse.

Yet when I did my preceptorship, the drs and nurses alike were thrilled at my skills and education and how I consumed every bit of information they threw at me.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
working as a medic, I had very few bad experiences with the nurses. However, when I applied to a MSN program, I was told by the dean that interviewed me that there would be professors that that would not like me simply because I was a medic. 5 or 6 professors made my life hell, doing everything they could to fail me in their classes. Mind you, I never told anyone that I was a medic, I told everyone I had no experience. Clinical professors as well as didactic did not feel a medic had the qualifications to become a nurse.

Yet when I did my preceptorship, the drs and nurses alike were thrilled at my skills and education and how I consumed every bit of information they threw at me.

IMHO....nurses who antagonize medics are insecure about their abilities or jealous over the medics skill set.

Me...I love medics and they bring a lot to the table with their particular set of skills.

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working as a medic, I had very few bad experiences with the nurses. However, when I applied to a MSN program, I was told by the dean that interviewed me that there would be professors that that would not like me simply because I was a medic. 5 or 6 professors made my life hell, doing everything they could to fail me in their classes. Mind you, I never told anyone that I was a medic, I told everyone I had no experience. Clinical professors as well as didactic did not feel a medic had the qualifications to become a nurse.

Yet when I did my preceptorship, the drs and nurses alike were thrilled at my skills and education and how I consumed every bit of information they threw at me.

If you are a Paramedic you should be proud of it. The Dean was probably testing you to see how you would handle being challenged as a Paramedic. I would say you did not handle it very well. Lying to professors who have access to your transcripts, your application and the Dean was not a great idea. Your Paramedic license is also public record. If you had done this in Paramedic school you should have expected to be dismissed from the program. What makes you think nursing school is any different when it comes to integrity? It seems you have only yourself to blame for the way you were treated in class.

Lobaracer you put the word HATE in the title of this discussion. That invites harsh comments although the majority here have been complimentary of Paramedics. It seems you must be part of the EMTLIFE forum like amjclean EMT-B and akulahawk. EMTLIFE is a forum where Paramedics with any self respect avoid. It always has a discussion about hating nurses or nurses are stupid on it. If you guys aren't hating on nurses you attack each other. Just maybe akulahawk your problem of not getting hired as a nurse is associated with your participation on forums which hate nurses.

I am going to point out to the nurses here that all you do is complain about your education and how useless it is and is too long. Most new grad RNs have never started an IV or drawn blood. It seems, according to the posts on this forum, if you have BSN behind your name you didn't even learn to wipe a butt or any other basic skills. The nursing degree whether it is ADN or BSN is just a piece of paper. Whatever hours of training you have comes after you are hired. That means the 1000 hours a Paramedic gets by far exceeds yours in practical experience, job readiness and critical thinking. Maybe nursing should take a lesson from the Paramedic world and teach less fluff and more usable knowledge. Nurses could then focus on patient care instead of constantly complaining about their education.

The transport nurses with skills are an exception and very few RNs do transport. I will say there are more programs going with Paramedic transport teams for CCT and Flight. Paramedics have already proven to be far more valuable than RTs on transport and have successfully replaced them on most critical care ground and flight teams such as REACH and AirLink. This includes pediatric and neonatal teams. Hospitals are also seeing the value of Paramedics running their code and rapid response teams.

When Paramedics just start hate discussions, it isn't very productive and really puts EMS in a bad position with nursing. It just warps the board against Paramedics who are advancing in transport and in the hospitals.

Take the word HATE out of the title and then have a more productive discussion.

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I would say you might stand alone with that opinion from fellow nurses

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I would say you might stand alone with that opinion from fellow nurses

I think EMSE12 was genuine with her very nice comment towards Paramedics and from most of the others posting here, I don't think she is standing alone.

As Paramedics and other EMS providers we sometimes forget about the abilities of others. I was definitely reminded of that here. Even if I did not agree with the nurses' comments entirely I now refrain form making statements of hate against nurses on a nursing forum. Just like the EMS forums some nurses do enough hating on their forums.

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BR157, you are a bit off track. EMTLIFE does not castigate nurses, etc. The forum has a myriad of topic areas such as BLS, ALS, Military/Wilderness, Education and Training, NREMT. You demonstrate bias and/or ignorance with your comment. The NREMT-B and P Transition process had been a big issue of concern and EMTLIFE has been a help. Think before you speak. I haven't seen anti-nurse comments on this forum.

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BR157, you are a bit off track. EMTLIFE does not castigate nurses, etc. The forum has a myriad of topic areas such as BLS, ALS, Military/Wilderness, Education and Training, NREMT. You demonstrate bias and/or ignorance with your comment. The NREMT-B and P Transition process had been a big issue of concern and EMTLIFE has been a help. Think before you speak. I haven't seen anti-nurse comments on this forum.

Ignorance and bias come when you try to defend that forum and deny the offending posts or discussions exist. That forum is not all honey and roses. For that matter neither is this forum but I can not find that many posts here which are not complimentary to Paramedics. It took less than a minute to find the same tired member measuring discussions on that forum. What could be great discussions always end up the same way with someone getting butt hurt over ego clashes. The intubation scenario is a good example. I respect the knowledge of a CRNA, especially if they were also a Paramedic, when it comes to intubation and medications. What they know I can probably adapt outside of the hospital. Another discussion is about ****** nursing homes and their nurses. Another discussion is about rude ER nurses. Most of the topics about NREMT transitioning are about how to get a certificate in their state because they don't know the process probably because their quick cert poor excuse of a school didn't tell them. Yeah look at me defending nursing. Luckily I only have to address a handful of EMTs and Paramedics who have ventured from EMTLIFE to start the Hate discussions here. I think for the most part nurses and Paramedics get along pretty good in the ER and on transport.

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